


for reasons wretched and divine

by murdur



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: A pining idiot, F/M, Hiding an injury, Loki is an idiot, Post-Canon, Sifki Month, monster hunter for hire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23923327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murdur/pseuds/murdur
Summary: Loki curled his arm across his torso, his right hand prodding near his ribs. The pain was intense, making his vision flash white. Pulling back, his fingers came away red with blood.
Relationships: Loki/Sif (Marvel)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 78





	for reasons wretched and divine

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Sifki Month](https://sifkiweek2020.tumblr.com/post/613697900677038080/greeting-fellow-lokisif-shippers-given-that-many). Week Four's prompt of Hurt/Comfort" and the bonus prompt of "Travel/Adventure". 
> 
> I view this as being set within my previous monster hunters for hire fic [Silhouettes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13108821) although it can probably stand alone.

“Keep it distracted!” Sif called out, hardly looking back at him as she sprinted across the pebbled shore, a smirk on her lips and a plan burning in her eyes.

A plan, like so many of her moods, that was not shared with Loki.

Blasted secrets, he thought, turning back towards their current mark of employment. 

The lake monster on the planet Aohkíí emerged again from the cool waters, and reared its ugly head back. A serpent, it was horned, enormous, and currently absolutely furious. When it snapped its head back towards him, it emitted a thick black stream from its gaping mouth, spitting poison. Leaping out of the way, Loki dodged the venom and cursed under his breath. 

Enraged, the serpent dove back under the lake’s surface, its long body twisting and circling, dipping in and out of sight. Any boat to bring them nearer would have been easily capsized by the waves it created with its slapping tail. The monster had been engaged in this dance with the Asgardians for over an hour, remaining deep enough in the water to avoid them driving a sword into its slick skin, trading jets of toxic sludge for Loki’s throwing knives and bursts of magic. 

Glancing up in the fading daylight, Loki saw Sif scaling the tree lined cliffs to the east and smiled. A vortex of rising water was churning as the monster circled, suddenly thrashing its body like the crack of a whip, pushing the swell towards the shore. Loki threw his arm up, deflecting the wave of water with a shield of green seidr and tried to keep his balance against the powerful force. He drew a blade to his palm, and once the water had ceased, he brought his cover arm down, ready to attack. But before his arm had even dropped, another spew of poison was waiting for him, the serpent using the wave as a diversion. The sorcerer hurled his body, hitting the ground hard and rolling to his feet, moving closer to Sif’s perch. 

He let loose dagger after dagger as he ran, pain and anger snarling out with each hurl and his magic pushing the blades further and faster into the slick skin of the beast. The serpent followed, moving fast through waters that grew darker with its reeking blood.

“Now, Sif!” Loki shouted, pulling as much energy as he could muster into his hands and sending the ball of green light across the lake, the monster’s head pinned with the force of the blow. 

On cue, the shield-maiden leapt from the cliff with a running start, launching herself over the waters with her double-bladed sword held aloft. With a tremendous roar, she drove her blade down, striking it through the crown of the serpent. Holding true, the moment of her fall carried her down and into the cold waters, dragging the monster’s head with her. The long, serpentine body thrashed and was pulled down too, great waves erupting all around until the pointed tip of the tail disappeared underwater.

Loki stood frozen on the shoreline, watching and waiting. For a moment, the water was still and a strange hush fell over the lake, broken only by Loki’s ragged breathing and his call of Sif’s name. 

Dark hair broke the surface then, the warrior walking out of the water, dragging the severed head of the monster behind her. Loki huffed out a relieved laugh and let his legs drop out, sitting heavily onto a washed up log. 

Gratified to have the job finished, the ache slowly crept into his awareness. Loki curled his arm across his torso, his right hand prodding near his ribs. The pain was intense, making his vision flash white. Pulling back, his fingers came away red with blood, a slight smoke rising from where the venom had eaten away at his leathers and skin. 

“Well, that was fun,” Sif tossed the giant severed head onto the shore and pushed her soaking hair out of her eyes, dark tendrils still clinging to her cheeks. Loki snapped his head up with a quick smile, pulling his overcoat tighter around his body and tucking his elbow against his throbbing side. 

“An impressive deathblow from you, Lady,” Loki complimented her and rubbed the blood from his hand into his dark trousers, trying his best to push the fiery pain from his mind. 

“Indeed,” Sif squeezed more lake water out of her dripping hair. “Which is why I think perhaps I should take full payment for this one, no?”

“And what has led you to such a conclusion?”

“Clearly, I did all the work,” Sif pointed her sword tip back towards the ugly head of the serpent before giving it a quick spin, blood and brains flying clean. Her smile was quite wicked. 

“I seem to recall a small amount of effort on my own part,” Loki shook his head, enjoying their easy banter. Sif was not always so open with him, she had kept him at a distance since the start of their journeying. He couldn’t blame her, although his fool-heart still wished for more of this. He had changed, grown less easy to anger. But it was still a delicate thing between them. 

“Would you mind?” Sif gestured to her sopping leathers. 

“Ah, what’s this?” Loki leaned forward and regretted it immediately, the motion pulling and twisting his damaged skin. He did his best to pass off his grimace as petulance. “I thought you found my magic quite useless.”

“I lied,” Sif shrugged with a smirk. “Perhaps you’re rubbing off on me.”

“In return for my services, I will humbly accept exactly one half of the serpent’s bounty,” Loki ignored her barb and Sif laughed. 

“A fair trade,” she agreed. 

Rising from his seat, Loki lifted his hands near her face, swallowing down a whimper of pain. He turned his focus to the woman before him, her face alight with the happiness of victory, lovely. Time and travel had hardly touched her features, still smooth and glowing, but there was something about her that certainly seemed more mature than before. The lake water evaporated from her in warm, wispy steam with the gentle work of his magic. Pain throbbed at his side with the effort, but he felt it was worth the price for a moment like this; permitted to be of use, allowed to stand so near. 

“You’re trembling,” Sif’s voice was soft. She reached up and took one of his hands into her own and Loki felt a swoop of his heart at the touch. Her brows drew together in concern, searching his face. “Are you alright?”

“Famished,” Loki hedged. He pulled his hand back gently, willing his body to obey. 

Sif nodded and thanked him for his spell and looked up into the clear sky overhead. “It’s a bit of a hike down to our camp. We’d better get a move on before all light is gone.”

Pulling a length of rope from her satchel, she wound it expertly on the monster’s horns and tied it securely onto her back, proof for their payment. With Loki’s nodding approval, she led them away from the lake, picking their way through the tree lined forest down the mountainside, humming a cheery tune. 

The mage walked behind the warrior, allowing himself a hidden grimace of pain. Carefully, he let his fingers probe his side once more. A slow, steady stream of blood was flowing down his side and spilling over his knuckles, the venom had eaten a jagged opening into his skin. He swore under his breath and gave a prayer to the Norns that no poison had reached further internally, not wanting to pull back his outer-coat to look. Stumbling over a branch, he felt a little woozy from the blood loss and growing pain. 

He could hold on, he chastened himself, there was a healing stone in his tent. Just a little longer through the woods and the night would be remembered for nothing more than Sif’s joyous victory and his hand in hers.

  
  
Maybe that would have been true if they had not chosen a path that veered to the west. 

The cave was situated up a slight hill from their trail, its mouth dark and gaping in the evening light. Loki noticed it first, a flash of white moving at the mouth of the cave, seen out of the corner of his eye. At first he thought his vision was flickering from the injury, but when he turned his head a tall figure looked out from the darkness. White and stretched and wrong, the creature that emerged from the cave made his hair stand on end. 

“Sif,” he whispered, slowing his steps and keeping his eyes on the cave. The thing had a woman’s shape but too long, and eyes too large and yellow. Where its feet should have been were talons with sharp points and its arms were covered in white feathers. Loki was reminded of an owl. 

_ “ Sif, _ _”_ Loki hissed more forcefully, stopping the warrior in her tracks and drawing her attention to their company. The owl-woman stepped forward, its movements were jagged and jumpy. 

“What is that?” Sif whispered, reaching back slowly to draw her sword and stepping carefully back up the trail towards Loki. 

_ Tah-tah Kle-ah.  _ Loki thought of the whispers of the villagers who payed for their excursion. But before he could respond, the owl-woman’s face split open and an ear-splitting screech rang out from its beak.  Taking flight, the being swooped in a flash of white and dove towards them, sharp talons extended. 

“Loki!” Sif cried out, jumping nearer to him and dropping the serpent’s head to the ground. Responding without thought to her unspoken request, Loki threw his arm up to cloak them with a deflecting shield, the beast would be unable to see them and would be met with a charged wall of magic. Thrown off, the owl-woman gave an angry screech and rose up, circling. 

A burning pain shot through his side. The spell devoured his magic reserves, and he felt all his energy seeping from his gaping wound and his buzzing fingers. Sif stepped nearer, pushing her back against his and raising her blade. His body was shaking with the next burst of magic as the creature dove again, trembling against Sif with the effort to push the piercing talons back and away. 

“I can’t hold it,” he grit his teeth and stars burst into his vision. He felt the spell waver. The beast dove again, sensing an opening. Sif slashed at it, lunging out to cut into the wings. The cry of pain and fury that filled the air was overwhelming.  Without Sif’s support to hold his body up, Loki felt his feet slip out from under him, the pain spreading from his side and overtaking him. His legs gave and he collapsed, his magic evaporated, leaving them open and bare.

Talons grazed Sif’s arm as she stepped in front of the owl-woman’s attack, but the warrior was quick and unforgiving, cutting and striking with a powerful conviction. Carving into its torso and wings, red blood painted the white feathers and the creature retreated back into its cave with a chilling scream.

Loki lay on the forest floor, trying to stem the flow of blood from his side, feeling his energy draining and seeping into the dirt. Tossing her sword down, Sif kneeled at his side. 

“Move your hand,” she commanded and he obeyed. Sif lifted the heavy leather of his coat to see his tunic and skin.

“Oh, Loki,” she breathed. He was losing blood at an alarming rate, his skin had turned black and putrid around the jagged edge of the fist-sized hole. He turned his head at the sight of it, feeling nausea and panic rise within himself. Sif picked up his hand and returned it to press against the wound and then frantically dug into her satchel. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” her face was pale and her eyes seemed to sparkle in the growing moonlight. At last she pulled a healing stone from her pouch and crushed it easily in her hands. “I could have helped you,” her voice was low and forceful. “What good is it to suffer for suffering’s sake?”

Secrets. Foolish secrets, he thought. She had to know. He wished that he could say it. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice ragged and jumping with the effort against the shivering that wracked his body. Not just for this, he thought. For everything. “I’m sorry,” he said again. Hoping she would understand.

She shook her head and pressed the powdered stone into his side, her touch bringing immediate relief. Under the concern, the anger in her eyes, there was something else. Something softer and exposed. In his dizziness, it gave him hope. 

“You’ve died enough times already,” her voice dipped. “Don’t do this to me again. Can we not save the theatrics for another thousand years?”

“Without me,” Loki smiled weakly, “more money for you.”

Sif snorted a surprised laugh. “You truly are hardly any help. I could strike out on my own.”

“I have no doubt,” Loki rasped, letting her help him sit upright. He prodded at his side, the wound was covered with an angry red welt. It still ached but would be fully healed with the assistance of his waiting stone.

“Lucky for you, I rather like working as a team,” Sif stood and brushed the dirt from her leathers, offering him her hand with a glance up to the cave. “We’d better get going. Can you walk?”

Accepting her help, Loki rose slowly and limped a few steps with a nod. He did not protest when, after securing the serpent head to her back once more, Sif slung his arm over her shoulder, carrying some of his weight down the trail. 

“Lucky me, indeed,” he murmured as they slowly made their way out of the woods. Sif smiled and wrapped her arm tighter around him. Loki thought to himself that perhaps there was still a victory to celebrate tonight. 

**Author's Note:**

> To be perfectly honest, this month has been a real struggle for me. Working part of my time in a hospital during a global pandemic has been strange and terrifying and my emotional and mental state has been wonky. Writing for Sifki Month has been a great distraction and creative outlet, although I don't feel that my brain and writing was fully up to what I would have wanted. Thank you for reading, participating in the month, and remaining the kindest ship in fandom <3


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